Chereads / Isle of Cetus (The Felines) / Chapter 11 - CHAPTER TEN

Chapter 11 - CHAPTER TEN

𝙿𝙷𝙾𝚃𝙾𝚂𝙷𝙾𝙾𝚃

𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐏.𝐎.𝐕.

It has been a good few hours since the break of dawn. The vast studio is silent save for the hustling and bustling of the entire staff that is busy setting up the background themes for each shoot. The models are yet to come but the photographer has already started putting up his own pieces of equipment too. The whole studio is barely lit apart from the lighting equipment in each background setup.

The male model arrived at the studio first. He is still not quite used to these kinds of things. He entered and found the place with people running around back and forth setting the backgrounds, others arranging the wardrobe and makeup, others carrying equipment that the photographer will be needing. He glanced around looking for his handler, Leif. He found him by a half-done background set that looks like the peak of when lavender flowers bloom. He walked towards his handler to greet him.

"𝗟𝗲𝗶𝗳." he simply greeted. The other turned to him and smiled. "𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁. 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆. 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗴𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲." his handler instructed. He nods twice then heads to follow the instructions given and finds his way to the waiting room. He is half an hour early but by the looks of the many background setups, he understood that he is just on time if he wanted to finish the day's shoot early. Everyone was busy so he settled in front of a mirror and waited for the team to do their thing.

~***~

Leandrea arrived at the studio ten minutes before the scheduled time. She noticed that everything is all set up already and she was also informed that her project partner arrived a good twenty minutes before her and is also all set up for the first shoot already. She gingerly strides to her separate waiting room to start preparing for the shoot too.

A few minutes later she went out of the makeup waiting room and was already set up for the first shoot too. She is wearing a white fairy dress with her long wavy brown hair left down. She has very light makeup that almost looks natural. She is wearing a white gladiator sandals that completely complements her dress and makeup. She was then led to the first background.

The background shows that it was lightly snowing. The mood around it screams serene yet solemn. "𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆." she heard the photographer behind her. She turned around to face the producer but was shocked to see who she assumed to be her project partner.

In front of her was the man that haunted her thoughts the past months. The other is wearing a thin long sleeve polo and a black slacks. He is also wearing simple black shoes. His raven hair was messily styled, the silverish highlights glinting whenever the lights reach them. She tried her best to hide her shock while the other looked so calm which was the total opposite of what Leandrea was feeling at that time.

"𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲. 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮." she heard Leif say. It is their first formal way of meeting each other. Ashe offered his hand which was accepted and shook by her. She forced herself to smile. "𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂." she added. "𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘁, 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗲?" the photographer asked. They both nodded and went straight to where the background was set up.

"𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮, 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼. 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲, 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁." the photographer explained. The first shoot started just like that.

They both tried their best to stay professional even though Leandrea is dying to talk to the other. The only thing that could be heard was the shutter sounds and the occasional rustling sounds. They strike pose after pose until the photographer is satisfied with the first batch of photos and is ready to move to the second theme. "𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿." their photographer complimented them before urging them to prepare for the next shoot.

They were led to their waiting rooms again to get changed. After changing her clothes, having the staff retouch her makeup, and putting her hair in a messy bun, she walks out of the waiting room. This time she was led to a background that has a summer vibe. She is wearing a yellow floral summer dress with a spaghetti strap. She has pastel yellow wedge sandals while holding a roundup hat in her hand. Ashe just arrived too while she was looking at the setup. He is wearing a white tank top with blue summer shorts and a black pair of flip flops. He is holding a shades in his hand too.

The photographer approached them to explain what they would be posing this time around. "𝗢𝗸𝗮𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮." the photographer said, looking at her. "𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿." the photographer then turned to the other. They both nodded and the photographer went back to their place.

Leandrea put the hat on and smiled while looking up at the ceiling like she was looking at the sky. Ashe was looking at her the whole time with a small smile while trying to put his shades on. The photographer did not think twice to capture the scene. They tried different poses again until the photographer told them it was all good and they can take some rest before proceeding to the next shoots. They both went to their respective waiting rooms to rest after thanking the staff members and the photographer.

Leandrea hurried to change her clothes to a loose shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She wanted to talk to Ashe as soon as possible. She wanted answers and not just some cryptic advice from the male. After changing into her indoor slippers she went out of her waiting room to look for Ashe.